Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 CHAPTER II — ELIGIBILITY

Article 9–Article 12 · 4 articles

Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗

Eligible actions

Article 9

1. Only actions which contribute to the achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 3, whilst taking into account long-term decarbonisation commitments, shall be eligible for funding. Such actions include studies, works and other accompanying measures necessary for the management and implementation of the CEF and the sector-specific guidelines. Studies shall be eligible only if they relate to projects eligible under the CEF. 2. In the transport sector, only the following actions shall be eligible to receive Union financial support under this Regulation: (a) actions relating to efficient, interconnected, interoperable and multimodal networks for the development of railway, road, inland waterway and maritime infrastructure: (i) actions implementing the core network in accordance with Chapter III of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, including actions relating to cross-border links and missing links, such as those listed in Part III of the Annex to this Regulation, as well as urban nodes, multimodal logistics platforms, maritime ports, inland ports, rail-road terminals and connections to airports of the core network as defined in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; actions implementing the core network may include related elements located on the comprehensive network when necessary to optimise the investment and according to modalities specified in the work programmes referred to in Article 20 of this Regulation; (ii) actions relating to cross-border links of the comprehensive network in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, such as those listed in Part III, point 2, of the Annex to this Regulation, actions referred to in Part III, point 3, of the Annex to this Regulation, actions relating to studies for the development of the comprehensive network and actions relating to maritime and inland ports of the comprehensive network in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (iii) actions to re-establish missing regional cross-border rail connections on the TEN-T that have been abandoned or dismantled; (iv) actions implementing sections of the comprehensive network located in outermost regions in accordance with Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, including actions relating to the relevant urban nodes, maritime ports, inland ports, rail-road terminals, connections to airports and multimodal logistics platforms, of the comprehensive network as defined in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (v) actions supporting projects of common interest in order to connect the trans-European network with infrastructure networks of neighbouring countries as defined in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (b) actions relating to smart, interoperable, sustainable, multimodal, inclusive, accessible, safe and secure mobility: (i) actions supporting motorways of the sea as provided for in Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 with a focus on cross-border short-sea shipping; (ii) actions supporting telematic applications systems in accordance with Article 31 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, for the respective modes of transport, including in particular: — for railways: ERTMS, — for inland waterways: River Information Services (RIS), — for road transport: Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), — for maritime transport: Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information Systems (VTMIS) and e-Maritime services, including single-window services such as the maritime single window, port community systems and relevant customs information systems, — for air transport: air traffic management systems, in particular those resulting from the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) system; (iii) actions supporting sustainable freight transport services in accordance with Article 32 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 and actions to reduce rail freight noise; (iv) actions supporting new technologies and innovation, including automation, enhanced transport services, modal integration and alternative fuels infrastructure for all modes of transport in accordance with Article 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (v) actions to remove barriers to interoperability as defined in Article 3, point (o), of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, notably barriers when delivering corridor/network effects, including actions promoting an increase in rail freight traffic and automatic gauge-change facilities; (vi) actions to remove barriers to interoperability, in particular in urban nodes within the meaning of Article 30 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (vii) actions implementing safe and secure infrastructure and mobility, including road safety, in accordance with Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (viii) actions improving transport infrastructure resilience, in particular its resilience to climate change and natural disasters and to cyber security threats; (ix) actions improving transport infrastructure accessibility in all modes of transport and for all users, especially users with reduced mobility, in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013; (x) actions improving transport infrastructure accessibility and availability for security and civil protection purposes and actions adapting the transport infrastructure for Union external border checks purposes with the aim of facilitating traffic flows; (c) under the specific objective referred to in Article 3(2), point (a)(ii), and in accordance with Article 12, actions or specific activities within an action, supporting parts, new or existing, of the TEN-T suitable for military transport, in order to adapt the TEN-T to dual-use infrastructure requirements. 3. In the energy sector, only the following actions shall be eligible to receive Union financial support under this Regulation: (a) actions relating to projects of common interest as set out at Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 347/2013; (b) actions supporting cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, including innovative solutions, as well as storage of renewable energy, and their conception, as defined in Part IV of the Annex, subject to the fulfilment of the conditions laid down in Article 7. 4. In the digital sector, only the following actions shall be eligible to receive Union financial support under this Regulation: (a) actions supporting the deployment of and access to very high capacity networks, including 5G systems, capable of providing Gigabit connectivity in areas where socioeconomic drivers are located; (b) actions supporting the provision of very high-quality local wireless connectivity in local communities that is free of charge and without discriminatory conditions; (c) actions implementing the uninterrupted coverage with 5G systems of all major transport paths, including the TEN-T, such as the actions listed in Part V, point 3, of the Annex; (d) actions supporting the deployment of new or the significant upgrading of existing backbone networks, including submarine cables, within and between Member States and between the Union and third countries, such as the actions listed in Part V, point 3, of the Annex, as well as other actions supporting the deployment of backbone networks referred to in that point; (e) actions implementing digital connectivity infrastructure requirements related to cross-border projects in the areas of transport or energy or supporting operational digital platforms directly associated to transport or energy infrastructures, or both.

Synergies between the transport, energy and digital sectors

Article 10

1. Actions contributing simultaneously to the achievement of one or more objectives of at least two sectors, as provided for in Article 3(2), points (a), (b) and (c), shall be eligible to receive Union financial support under this Regulation and to benefit from a higher co-funding rate, in accordance with Article 15. Such actions shall be implemented through work programmes addressing at least two sectors and including specific award criteria, and shall be financed with budget contributions from the sectors involved. 2. Within each of the transport, energy or digital sectors, actions eligible in accordance with Article 9 may include synergetic elements relating to any of the other sectors, which are not related to eligible actions provided for in Article 9(2), (3) or (4) respectively, provided that they comply with all of the following requirements: (a) the cost of the synergetic elements does not exceed 20 % of the total eligible costs of the action; (b) the synergetic elements relate to the transport, energy or digital sector; and (c) the synergetic elements enable the socioeconomic, climate or environmental benefits of the action to be significantly improved.

Eligible entities

Article 11

1. As regards entities, the eligibility criteria set out in this Article shall apply in addition to the criteria set out in Article 197 of the Financial Regulation. 2. The following entities shall be eligible: (a) legal entities established in: (i) a Member State, including joint ventures; (ii) a third country associated to the CEF; or (iii) an overseas country or territory; (b) legal entities created under Union law and, if provided for in the work programmes, international organisations. 3. Natural persons shall not be eligible. 4. The work programmes may provide that legal entities established in third countries associated to the CEF in accordance with Article 5, and legal entities established in the Union but directly or indirectly controlled by third countries or nationals of third countries or by entities established in third countries, are not eligible to participate in all or some of the actions under the specific objectives set out in Article 3(2), point (c), for duly justified security reasons. In such cases, calls for proposals and calls for tenders shall be restricted to entities established, or deemed to be established, in Member States and directly or indirectly controlled by Member States or by nationals of Member States. 5. Legal entities established in a third country which is not associated to the CEF shall exceptionally be eligible to receive Union financial support under the CEF where this is indispensable for the achievement of the objectives of a given project of common interest in the transport, energy and digital sectors or of a cross-border project in the field of renewable energy. 6. To be eligible, proposals shall be submitted: (a) by one or more Member States; or (b) with the agreement of the Member States concerned, by international organisations, joint undertakings, or by public or private undertakings or bodies, including regional or local authorities. If the Member State concerned does not agree with a submission under point (b) of the first subparagraph, it shall communicate that information accordingly. A Member State may decide that, for a specific work programme or for specific categories of applications, proposals may be submitted without its agreement. In such case, this shall, at the request of the Member State concerned, be indicated in the relevant work programme and in the call for such proposals.

Specific eligibility rules concerning actions relating to the adaptation of the TEN-T to civilian-defence dual use

Article 12

1. Actions contributing to the adaptation of the TEN-T core network or comprehensive network as defined by Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013, with the purpose of enabling civilian-defence dual use of the infrastructure, shall be subject to the following additional eligibility rules: (a) the proposals shall be submitted by one or more Member States or, with the agreement of the Member States concerned, by legal entities established in Member States; (b) the actions shall relate to the sections or nodes identified by Member States in the Annexes to the Military Requirements for Military Mobility within and beyond the EU as adopted by the Council on 20 November 2018, or any subsequent list adopted thereafter, and to any further indicative list of priority projects that are identified by Member States in accordance with the Military Mobility Action Plan; (c) the actions may relate both to the upgrading of existing infrastructure components or to the construction of new infrastructure components taking into account the infrastructure requirements referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article; (d) actions implementing a level of infrastructure requirement going beyond the level required for dual use shall be eligible; however, their cost shall only be eligible up to the level of costs corresponding to the level of requirements necessary for dual use; actions relating to infrastructure used only for military purposes shall not be eligible; (e) actions under this Article shall only be funded from the amount in accordance with Article 4(2), point (a)(iii), of this Regulation. 2. The Commission shall adopt an implementing act specifying, where necessary, the infrastructure requirements applicable to certain categories of dual-use infrastructure actions and the evaluation procedure regarding the actions connected with dual-use infrastructure actions. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 24(2). 3. Following the interim evaluation of the CEF provided for in Article 23(2), the Commission may propose to the budgetary authority that it transfer the money that has not been committed from Article 4(2), point (a)(iii), to Article 4(2), point (a)(i).

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